Steamtown & Time Machine Shadowbox Made from a Cigar Box – Plus a NEW Collage Sheet & Digital Image Set

It’s another glorious day at the main square in Steamtown.  The astrolabe is a popular place to gather.  Looks like a man with a steam-powered backpack is ready to take off, and there is a boy on a bicycle who is launching into the air.  

You can also see two young girls riding around on a steam-powered Victorian version of the Segway.

Out in the suburbs of Steamtown, a drama is unfolding behind an innocent-looking Victorian façade.

In the library, Henry and George await the return of their colleague Roger.  Unbeknownst to the men, something else has moved forward in time.  Not to worry, as Amelia makes short work of the problem using her trusty umbrella, dispatching the creature to the year 2015, where it is now starring in a movie titled “Jurassic World”.

On the walls of the library are pictures of some of the lovely ladies of Steamtown.

In addition to the two Steampunk-themed projects, there is a new “Time Machine” collage sheet and digital image set.  Most of the images you’ll see in the new project come from these new image sets and also from my other recent Voyages Extraordinaires image sets.

In the post below, I’ll walk you through how I created each piece and have included the list of supplies I used.

NEW COLLAGE TIME MACHINE COLLAGE SHEET

Click on the image below to purchase this sheet.  This sheet includes all kinds of goodies to create your own time machine.  

NEW TIME MACHINE DIGITAL KIT

Click on the image below to purchase this digital image set. 

This digital image set is filled with all kinds of images of people and mechanical parts to assemble a time machine and setting for a total of 34 separate images.  These work well for a 1:12 scale miniature project.  

STEAMTOWN - Tutorial

The base of Steamtown is made from a piece of wood I bought at the craft store.  The edges are painted and papered.  On the top is a collage of paper from the Carte Blanche Junque Gypsy Scrapbook Paper.  

I attached the boy and girls on the bicycle to the base using small square beads that are glued to the back of the pieces and then to the base.

ASTROLABE CLOCK

The astrolabe clock is made from laser-cut wood. 

To create the clock patina, I started by applying a rust treatment to the clock.  I’m not going to cover the rust treatment in this tutorial as I have two other tutorials devoted to this patina technique.  If you missed them, they are:

• How to Rust Just About Any Surface Using Modern Masters Metal Effects
• Hocus Pocus Inspired Book Apothecary – Video Tutorial

Next, I rubbed on some Inca Gold Gilders Paste and then some Patina Gilders Paste.  The final touch was to paint the indented numbers on the wood with gold paint. 

The base of the astrolabe is made from a round wooden plaque.  The edge is painted, and once again, I used the Carte Blanche paper on the top.

The stand is a candlestick holder painted gold, rubbed with Patina Gilders Paste, and accented with diamond tape.

I cut a notch in the top of the candlestick holder to hold the clock.

The mechanical-looking piece on the circle of the clock is made from an optometrist lens from my stash, gears and wings from the Steampunk Shapes Set, a Victorian bicycle charm, brass leaves, and a rondelle.  The two pictures below are views from the back and front of the piece.

In the center of the clock is the astrolabe.  I used gears from the Steampunk Shape Set – Hot Air Balloon and a clock from the Steampunk Shapes Set – Hats for the 3 centerpieces.  The larger outside piece is made from multiple layers of paper cut to fit inside the hole in the clock.  I used the hole of the clock as the guide for size.  The trick is to find pieces that fit snugly inside the other piece.  Each piece is glued in place (with E6000) at an angle to the previous piece.

You can see in the pictures how I have attached the optometrist glass mechanical piece to the clock.  I used the brass leaves mainly as a surface to attach the piece to the clock without getting glue on the glass.

To the handle of the optometrist glass, I added a watch hand that goes through the astrolabe and is decorated with a small sun disk from my stash.

To the base, I added a chipboard key (from the Shapes Set) and brass gear.  At the bottom of the clock, I added wood swirls and a piece of filigree.

BALLOON

The balloon is made from the Steampunk Shape Set – Hot Air Balloons.  The paper behind the balloon and the banner on the front is from the Sweet Paris 8x8 paper set.

At the top of the balloon and on the basket, I added brass gears, a clock button, and a key.  The basket and balloon are connected using eye pins glued to the backs of each piece.  Other options are string, thread, toothpicks, or ribbons.  Hanging from the bottom of the basket is a piece of Dresden from my stash.

BOY ON BICYCLE

The boy on the steam-powered bicycle and the umbrellas are from the Voyage Extraordinaire Digital Image Set.  The umbrellas are connected to each other and to the bicycle by a thin wooden skewer. 

At the top of the umbrellas is a wooden light bulb, a fuse from the Time Machine collage sheet, a hitch fastener, and a bronze hand.  I trimmed the bottom of the light bulb so it would fit into the hole in a rondelle.  I then folded a bail and glued it into the hole in the hand.  The bail gave me a way of attaching the gizmo to the umbrellas. 

GIRLS ON BICYCLE

The frame of the bicycle is made from swirls that are part of the ClockworksLaser-Cut Wood Embellishments.  I used the same rusting technique on the swirls as I used on the clock.

I painted a variety of pieces from the Steampunk Shapes Sets.

Next, to the larger swirl, I started attaching the pieces I painted and, at the top left, a bronze gear.

I then added the smaller swirl to the larger one to serve as the handlebars.  I also added a game spinner and a furniture nail (with the pin removed).

I continued to build up the bike with a bicycle charm.

For the gizmo that comes off the back of the bike, I started by gluing a beehive box foot to metal gear.  I used the box foot as it will fit over a piece of the swirl so that I can attach the gizmo to the bike.  I used the gear to give me something to glue the bottle to.

I glued together a metal gear, 3 spinners, a rondelle, and a bead.

In a domed apothecary bottle, I assembled some rondelles and watch parts from my stash.

To the open end of the bottle, I attached the brass and spinner piece that I previously assembled.

Lastly, I glued the bottle to the box foot and brass gear and then glued the box foot over a piece of the swirl at the back of the bike.

Next, use a pair of chipboard wings from the Shapes Set to serve as a seat or place to stand.

At the top of the handlebar, I attached a scissor charm to serve as hands to hold (the blades of the scissors fit nicely on each side of the handlebar), a beehive box foot, and a pair of binoculars.

I then added more stuff!  More gears to the top on the handlebar with a hitch fastener, in the bottom middle a handle turn, and on the front wheel a brass propeller and bead.  I also added a gear on the back side handlebar and a gear on the back side of the back wheel.

The final touch is adding the girls to the bike.

Alpha Stamps Supplies for the Girls on the Bike

TIME MACHINE - Tutorial

The Time Machine shadowbox is made from a cigar box.

I started by inking the edges of the box and then papering the parts of the inside of the box that would be seen once I added all of the other elements.

For the lid side, I added parts of the library image from the Time Machine digital image set.  

Next, I framed images from the Voyages Extraordinaires image sets.  The frames are from the  Large Vintage and Elegant Frames digital image set.  The chairs are from the Days Gone By digital image set.  I popped up the pictures and the chairs from the wall using double-stick tape.

On the inside of the box, I added the library image.

For the time machine, I printed the image twice.  One of the images I used as the main image, and the other one, I cut out pieces of the image that I popped up from the main image to create depth.  I cut out a piece of the door and attached the dinosaur to the back of the door.

To further embellish the time machine, I added the Junkyard Findings Water Pipe Parts as well as gauges from the Steampunk Elements collage sheet or the Steampunk Elements digital image set.

You can below how the pipes, gauges, and door with a dinosaur are attached. 

To add a further dimension, I added Glossy Accents to the gauges to give them a domed and glassy appearance.

Also, note how I added the handle and gear to the pipes.  To create the space for them, I used several layers of double-stick foam tape to pop the time machine out from the wall.

For the dinosaur, I used multiple layers of double-stick foam tape behind the right side of the door (only) so that the left side is flush with the time machine and the right side is popped out.  This makes it look like the dinosaur is pushing the door open on the right, but the door is still on its hinge on the left.

When I cut out Amelia, I cut away the walking stick that is in her hand.  I glued the miniature umbrella behind her body and hand, then used a fine-point black pen to widen the part of the stick that goes across the skirt of her dress to match the width of the umbrella shaft.

DINOSAUR - FREE IMAGE - DOWNLOAD

Below is the dinosaur image I used.  Feel free to download the image and use it in your art.  It is sized to fit the dinosaur is sized to fit the time machine on the collage sheet or the large one in the digital image set.

The final touch was to add the men.  Also, note that I used the same curtains that are on the lid side of the box.

The Victorian façade is from the Time Machine digital image set.  I printed it twice, with one copy being reversed.  I glued one copy to a piece of lightweight chipboard and cut it out.  Next, I cut out the other copy and glued it to the back of the chipboard.  The reason for reversing one of the copies is that the façade is not perfectly symmetrical, so if you don’t reverse the second image, they won’t fit together as well.

For the astrolabe at the top of the house, I started by bending an ornament hook.  Note in the picture below that the second hook is the one that is bent, and the first is how it looked before bending.  

To the hook, I attached a brass gear and a clock button.  I attached a button to the back as well.

The other pieces of the astrolabe are a clock from the Steampunk Shapes Set – Hats, and a white ring that I painted a copper color and then brushed with Patina Gilders Paste.  

I then glued the hook into the ring at an angle.  You can now see why I bent the hook to make it larger so that it would fit snugly inside the ring.  Next, I glued the ring inside the clock.  

On each side of the clock, I attached memo pins.  I poked the pins through the top of the façade to hold the astrolabe in place.

Below the astrolabe is a gizmo piece from the Time Machine collage sheet.  I used Gloss Accents to make each of the gauges pop and small copper beads to dress up the gizmo and hide the small white areas that were too small to cut out.

To give the façade more dimension, I printed a third version of the façade and cut out most of the windows and doors, attaching them to the façade with double-stick foam tape to pop them up. 

The final touch is the lights which are from the Voyage Extraordinaires digital image set.  I then glued the façade to the front of the cigar box.